Sports connect people and people love playing and watching sports. Some watch it for the thrill of it, others watch it because they can earn money while doing so. Some work for advertising agencies while others prefer a more direct method of betting. Football and sports betting are an iconic duo, almost like horse racing and betting. Most football fans have at least once placed a bet. Some punters go so far and research various online bookmakers to find the best promotional code, like this BetYetu Coupon Code.
Top leagues like the Premier League and the Serie A, the Ligue 1 and La Liga, not to mention the German Bundesliga, get a lot of coverage and are therefore the most known leagues, at least in Europe and everyone interested in the world’s most popular football clubs. There are other leagues, however, like which are not as popular, but also have plenty of clubs playing in them. Non-league football is the prime example of that. But what does that even mean? The term itself is confusing, so here is a detailed explanation.
Non-league football – The Confusing Name
Non-league football often implies football clubs playing games in leagues which are not professional, or in other words, are semi-professional or amateur. They are outside the EFL, for example. England is most often used as an example for non-league football, because people primarily speak of England when they have that term in mind.
The EFL has the Championship League, League One and League Two. Then, at the top of the ladder, is the Premier League. The non-league football clubs actually belong to certain leagues, but are not at the highest level of competition, or anywhere near it. The National League System has around 1600 clubs playing in over 95 leagues. These clubs and their matches are considered non-league football. This trend of clubs playing in leagues but being called non-league football clubs also persists in other countries, namely Scotland, Ireland and Germany.
Non-league Football in Germany
The same system of calling other clubs which don’t play in the major leagues non-league clubs is persistent throughout Europe. In Germany, such clubs play in the Regionalliga, which used to be the third level of play in Germany. The 1. Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga were the only leagues above it until 2008. In 2008, the 3. Liga was introduced, and thus the Regionaliga was moved to the fourth position. It literally translates to regional league and is a league where semi-professionals play. The same can be said of Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. The problem with this is that many people who are not familiar with football and its terms, slang or otherwise, are not able to grasp the meaning behind non-league football, even though it is clearly in a league. By this, it is often meant that they play in non-relevant leagues, which is for many fans any league other than the number one league in their country.
Whether in England or the entirety of Europe or even the rest of the world, there are at least a couple of non-league football clubs in every country. Players who play in clubs which are semi-professional and amateur are considered non-league football players (at least until they move up in the world, if they ever do).
